OK, I'm on a roll now. Assigned myself 1 hour to work on the Spring Dresses and got the lining and collars in. Started the basting for the sleeve gatherings when my alarm when off. I know where I'm starting tomorrow - I can see these done by my deadline :D The cat heard my alarm and came running. He knows I feed him in the morning when my alarm goes off. I think he was hoping that is what this evening's alarm meant. My daughter assured me that she had just fed him, so he didn't need another meal. He didn't agree with that idea. Quietly I decided to go ahead and give him another portion of food, but then my daughter came into the kitchen. I made myself busy cleaning up a bit and trying to send her out of the room so I could sneak a meal to Sherlock (the cat). I managed to get the food out of the refrigerator on one of her errands out. Then I picked up his dish, (errand) then was able to put a bit of food in it. It took one ...
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I did it, I got myself to work on those Spring dresses. I've been stewing over how to do the collars and finally made a break through. I didn't want to do the traditional Peter Pan collar the pattern called for. I wanted some open lace similar to historical lace collars sewn onto dresses. (I have an antique lace collar from my grandmother's lace collection. One day I'll use it on a dress for myself) I'm inspired by the costuming on the Victoria TV series. My Spring dress collars are not the authentic lace collars. (historically lace collars were made as a separate item and sewn onto the dress after construction. This way they could be reused for future outfits is wanted. Lace was handmade special for this purpose. Sometime I hope to do this, but no time for these dresses). I used store bought lace yardage and edged it with a lace trim. It will be sewn into the collar the same way the Peter Pan was intended. So collars are p...
The refrigerator seems to have done the job on that first experimental batch. Done the job well enough anyway. Time to move on. But not this weekend. I've run into one of my periodic slumps - too tired, or not interested in being terribly productive today. I did most of the things on my to do list, but couldn't bring myself to launch into any of my big projects. Like sewing the granddaughters spring dresses. I have made some progress, and am sure a couple good days work will get them done, but wasn't motivated today. Sewing is something I usually enjoy. It is one of the things that calms me, regenerates me .. but today I couldn't bring myself to do it. Probably because of the book I'm reading. I love to take a day off and just read. My current book has some rather tragic characters during WWII in Germany. I love history. As I am reading, I am aching for these women and their trials. I can't help feeling...
So I dug out my equipment and quickly realized where I may have made a few mistakes. I had a water bath canner years ago that my children had destroyed in some science experiment. I had resorted to using my pressure cooker canner that had a nice raised inner plate. Could it be I overcooked my Fair Jam? I also couldn't find some of my favorite toys, like the jar lifter and funnel. I set off to WalMart to correct that problem. I had to search the store, but eventually found the canner and tools that I needed. Back home I began sterilizing jars and cleaning & cutting berries. I opted to try Certo's liquid pectin in this first experimental batch. All went well and I filled 5 gift jars and 2 "jelly" jars with hot jam syrup of a beautiful color. The little left over amount had a wonderful taste - so I was hopeful I had conquered jam making again. Wrong - when I got home from school the next day I discovered I had strawberry syrup - not jam. What...
It all started with the local county fair. Many years ago, as a young mother, I innocently entered a jar of homemade jam and won first place. That small success has sat in my memory bank as one of my special accomplishments in life. 30 years later, as I near retirement from a teaching career, I was ready to rekindle that success. It could launch me into a retirement hobby of revisiting homemaking skills I've had to put on the shelf for too long. I made my jam and innocently entered it, yet again, into the fair. I won, 4th place. To say that was a disappointment doesn't go far enough. I was surprised, somewhat shocked and disbelieving. I saw the third place jam and the jar wasn't completely full and there was foam on the top. Mine topped out perfectly and had no foam. I never got to see the first and second place winners. I mumbled childishly and wondered how the judges could have gotten it so wrong. I was much better in the ...